Mario Ochoa is the co-owner and Chief Strategic Officer for Sammis & Ochoa , a San Antonio-based public relations agency. A lifelong Alamo City resident, Mario specializes in strategic planning, media relations, copywriting and looking at the glass half-full.

Note: This is an mySA.com City Brights Blog. These blogs are not written or edited by mySA or the San Antonio Express-News. The authors are solely responsible for the content.

Public City

The word “publicity” is closely associated with celebrities, the rich and famous, and paparazzi. Some believe that “all publicity is good publicity” while others disagree, arguing that bad publicity puts reputations at risk. Some of us don’t realize that publicity, the notice or attention given to someone or something, giving out material information, is prevalent among the least of us. We publicize (sometimes subconsciously) ourselves, others, and products- the use of social media helps us do this. Let’s explore the way we use publicity, first noticing the word publicity broken down is public city, synonymously, open town.

Before previous generations adopted our avenue of social networking, they communicated through different platforms, but the messages remain the same (with sensitivity to culture and times). Town gossip, promotion, and hype are some things that clearly haven’t gone out of style in society, especially with our materialistic mentalities. Material information is included in the definition of publicity, so in reality, if publicity reflects reputation, then reputations are based on physical values rather than intellectual, moral, or cultural values. We are constantly defined not by who weare but where we go, what we wear, see, buy, use, etc. We label others and are labeled based on what is open to the public eye. Nowadays with media and the wide exposure that comes with it, we are careful to tailor what people publicly see to how we want them to see us.

We market ourselves through the networks we use. On Facebook, we pick and choose what pictures we post, pictures others can post of us, content we post on our own pages and on others’ pages, and what content is posted onto our pages by others. If we didn’t have the option to delete posts and remove tagged photos, how much would we really use this network? We are aware of who has access to our page- parents, bosses, peers, people we may not even like, all this factors into how we choose to publicize ourselves. The pages we like, products we advertise, and the attention we give to someone or something is all publicity. We have the ability to tag the places we go, we want people to see where we are going and who we are with if it’s in line with the image we desire. Like Facebook, through Twitter we gauge publicity by followers and retweets- who is following me, who am I following, what can I retweet that defines my image, what are people retweeting of mine so that my image is gaining more publicity? Social media is an easy tool for marketing ourselves and more people are using it- celebrities, businesses, and individuals alike.

This is all fine and dandy but what about when we are faced with personal interactions- are we maintaining our media personality by consistently displaying the same persona that we do over Facebook and Twitter? Many people “know” us through who we are online, but how do you live out that image in public? No matter how much you try, you can’t maintain a fake image, because over time people will define you through personal interactions. Shaking hands with someone and looking them in the eye will grab and sustain more positive attention than a quote on Facebook or a celebrity retweet on Twitter. This isn’t to shed negative light on publicity or marketing through media platforms, but to show that publicity is in everything we do and we actually choose our images through personal publicity. How do you publicize yourself online and in person?